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Raonic was the first Canadian man to play in a semi in the Open era, and he said he was not intimidated by Federer. But he hadn’t defeated him in their four previous meetings, and when Federer broke Raonic’s very first service game, it was not a particularly good omen.

Ahead of the match, Raonic said he intended, sensibly, to rely on his greatest weapon: his booming serve. And it was as intimidating as ever — his fastest clocking 224 kilometres per hour — occasionally leaving Federer standing still on the baseline.

But it was the small mistakes that got the big Canadian — the shaky start in the first game of the first set; the missed overhead smash that gave Federer break point at 4-4 in the second; the three break points at 4-4 in the third.

On this day, experience showed. It was Federer’s ninth semifinal, compared to Raonic’s first time in the final four. He already holds seven Wimbledon titles, and will be playing in his 25th Grand Slam final.

Despite the loss, Raonic, will see his world ranking rise from No. 8 to No. 6, and he marks his best result in a Grand Slam event. At the French Open, he lost in three sets to Djokovic.

Raonic, from Thornhill, Ont., has lost all five career matchups against Federer.

Raonic’s loss leaves Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., as the last remaining Canadian in singles play. On Saturday, Bouchard will try to become the first Canadian to win a Grand Slam singles title. She will play Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic in the women’s final.

Raonic appeared a little nervous at the start of the match Friday, with Federer breaking his serve in the opening game. Federer picked up one break in each of the following sets and never appeared threatened.

Before this tournament, no Canadian had ever reached a men’s or women’s Grand Slam singles final, according to Tennis Canada. The last Canadian to reach a singles semifinal at a major was Robert Powell at Wimbledon in 1908, the organization said.

Montreal native Greg Rusedski reached the U.S. Open final in 1997 but he was representing Britain at that time.

Raonic had not been past the second round in each of his three previous appearances at Wimbledon. He will rise three positions to a career-best ranking of No. 6 when the new ATP rankings are released Monday.

Djokovic, the 2011 champion and runner-up last year, overcame the loss of five straight games in the second set, seized control with a more aggressive game and took advantage of eight double-faults by Dimitrov — including three in a row in the third game of the fourth set and one in the final tiebreaker.

Djokovic is going for his seventh Grand Slam title. He lost in his last two major finals, falling to Rafael Nadal at the French Open last month and at the 2013 U.S. Open.

“All these matches, (I) could have won, so I’m looking forward,” Djokovic said. “ It’s a big challenge, it’s a big match. Whoever I play in the finals, I have to be on top of my game. This is Wimbledon final, and it’s the biggest event we have in (our) sport.”

The 11th-seeded Dimitrov, with his girlfriend Maria Sharapova watching from his guest box on Centre Court, came in with a 10-match winning streak and had been seeking to become the first Bulgarian to advance to a major final. Nicknamed “Baby Fed” for a style of play resembling Federer’s and long billed as the game’s next big thing, he pushed Djokovic to the limit but came up short when he could have forced a fifth set.

“His first semifinal, but he was fighting,” Djokovic said. “It was a tough match. Fourth set could have gone either way. ... But overall, I’m just really glad to reach another Wimbledon final.”

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